Harry Potter Writer Brought In To Polish Akira

With yesterday's news about Mila Kunis ditching the live-action Akira remake, it would appear that the project is in serious trouble. The story brought to light a conflict between director Albert Hughes and Warner Bros. President Jeff Robinov, the latter wanting to fill the big-budgeted adaptation with big, eye-catching names (he apparently even went as far as to give Brad Pitt a call), the former wanting to get actors that are actually right for the part. As if that weren't enough problems, apparently the script isn't that strong either and will now be undergoing rewrites.

Variety reports that Steve Kloves, who wrote seven of the eight Harry Potter movies, has been hired to do some polishing on the script for Akira. The most recent script for the project was written by Albert Torres, though Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby and Gary Whitta had worked on previous drafts. The story is based on the graphic novel by Katsuhiro Otomo. There is currently no release date or filming schedule planned.

While this may seem like terrible news, it really isn't. If, for example, the movie were in the middle of production, like, for example, Men in Black III, then it would be a time to panic, but this is really all just part of the pre-production process. In fact, it should be good news as it means that they won't be rushing into the filming process with an underdeveloped script. It may still be a while until a live action Akira movie is made, but at least they're making an effort.